Rotary tower crane



Sept. 11, 1962 H. LIEBHERR ETAL 3,053,398

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United States Patent Office 3,053,398 ROTARY TOWER CRANE Hans Liebherr, Memminger Strasse 9, and Elmar Reich, Schmelzweg 9, both of Biberach, Riss, Germany Filed Dec. 22, 1959, Ser. No. 861,255 Claims priority, application Germany Dec. 23, 1958 11 Claims. (Cl. 212-46) The present invention relates to rotary tower cranes. Such rotary tower cranes have been used to an ever 1ncreasing extent in building construction operations. ThlS is due partly to the fact that advantageous designs of rotary tower cranes have been developed and partly to the fact that such cranes can be converted in an easy manner into vehicles or vehicle-drawn trailers so as to permit easy transit from one building site to another.

These advantageous features of rotary tower cranes have resulted in their use also in the construction of high buildings. In order to avoid an excessive length of the crane column in the case of a crane that has been collapsed for road transport, there have already been suggested crane columns comprising telescoping sections. For such cases in which the total height of such a telescoping crane column was insufficient, it has been suggested to use cranes having so-called column extensions.

A known crane of the last-mentioned type is also adapted to be transported on roads in the manner indicated above. In erecting the column or tower of this crane in a section-by-section manner, use is made of the crane boom. It is possible, with the aid of the boom, to mount from one side the next following tower section in a guide structure mounted on top of the preceding tower section. For this purpose, the height of the said guide structure is required to exceed the height of each individual column section, the guide structure thus having a relatively long length. This, however, makes it necessary to tilt the guide structure into a substantially horizontal position where it is intended to move the crane from one site to another, because the height of the guide structure would otherwise exceed the standard clearance height of underpasses. However, this tilting-over of the guide structure requires additional assembling and disassembling operations and tends to increase the length of the structure in its ready-for-transport condition, it being understood that a maximum permissible length must not be exceeded by any vehicle.

According to the invention, this drawback of a rotary tower crane whose column or tower is adapted, in the manner indicated, for step-by-step erection with the aid of the boom, is eliminated by the provision of an erecting structure which comprises a rotary platform carried by ball bearings, the crane boom which is bilaterally supported on the platform, and a guide structure which is connected to the ball-bearing mounted rotary ring. According to another aspect of the invention, the boom may be pivotally attached to a trunnion of an auxiliary column, and may be adapted to be moved angularly in relation to said auxiliary column by means of a telescoping hydraulic ram. In the case of various embodiments of the invention, the said erecting structure may be left in its position of use on the wheeled undercarriage when the crane is collapsed for road transport, it being only necessary to tilt the said auxiliary column and the boom into a substantially horizontal position. In this case, the maximum permissible height of the portable unit thus formed will not be exceeded. Moreover, it is possible, after placing the auxiliary column in a vertical position, to make use of the boom to erect the crane by successively adding column sections to the main column or tower of the crane and by hoisting the erecting structure as required, it thus being possible to increase the height of the crane tower to match the increasing height of the building being constructed with the aid of the crane. In a manner yet to be described, any additional tower sections that may be required can be mounted with the help of the crane boom by lowering them through the ringof the rotary platform and onto the a previously added tower section. The said erecting structure preferably also comprises the winch, the pump supplying the hydraulic ram, and the crane rotating or slewing mechanism. Thus, the said units are raised together with the erecting structure onto upper end of the tower as the height thereof is increased.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with the .accompanying drawing, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and various modifications thereof in different stages of the erection operation. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of a crane according to the invention showing the crane at the start of the erecting process, this crane having no wheeled undercarriage;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the crane of FIG. 1 showing the crane after several stages of the erecting process have been completed;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the arrangement of cables used in lifting the erecting structure after the completion of the addition of another tower section;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing a crane of the invention which is secured, within a building, to a number of floors of said building;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the cable arrangement used in raising a lower tower sectionv from a lower floor to a higher floor;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a crane according to the invention having a wheeled undercarriage, the said crane being shown in two different stages of erection, the final erected position, however, not being shown;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the crane of FIG. 6 in its fully erected position;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the crane of FIGS. 6 and 7, partly broken away, showing the crane of FIGS. 6 and 7 in its collapsed position and ready for road travel.

Referring now more in particular to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 an erecting structure 1 of a rotary tower crane resting on the ground 2 at a construction site, the said erecting structure forming part of a crane whose tower can be erected section by section. The said erecting structure 1 comprises an annular array of bearing balls 3 supporting a rotary platform 4 which in turn supports a boom 5, and a guide section 6 surrounding a base section 14 of the crane tower which is securely anchored to the ground, and which forms a basis on which a number of additional tower sections may be mounted. An auxiliary column 8 mounted on the rotary platform 4 is provided with a pivot shaft 7 by means of which the boom 5 is pivotally mounted on the said auxiliary column. A telescoping, hydraulically operable ram 9, 9' serves to vary the angular position of the boom 5 in relation to the auxiliary column 8. Accommodated in the erecting structure 7, i.e. within the space 10, are the load winch, the pump supplying the hydraulic ram 9, and the mechanism serving to rotate the rotary platform 4. FIG. 1 also shows a crane tower section 11 which is the first of a plurality of similar sections to be mounted on top of the base section 14. This first tower section 11 has already been connected to a cable 13 which is trained over an auxiliary pulley 12 provided on the Patented Sept. 11, 1962 boom and over the main pulley (not shown) carried by the free end of the boom.

Upon the boom 5 being moved into its position 5 by means of the telescoping hydraulic ram 9, which latter will then assume the position indicated at 9', the tower section 11 will be raised and moved into a position over the erecting structure 1.

FIG. 2 shows the manner in which a tower section 14 is brought into the position indicated at 14' above the tower portion 15 composed of several tower sections, this being done by raising the boom 16 into the position 16, the column section 14 being attached to the free end of the cable 17, which cable finally assumes the position 17 in which it is still guided by the pulley 18 which has been moved into the position 18. In the position 14 the said tower section is vertically aligned with the tower portion 15 and, by lowering the cable 17 between the two laterally disposed hydraulic rams 19 and through the apertures of the rotary platform 20 and the supporting ring 21, the

said tower section can be mounted on top of the last pre- 1 ceding tower section 22, the newly added section being attached to the section 22 in any conventional manner by means of connecting links and bolts.

This stage in the erection of the crane tower is followed, as shown in FIG. 3, by raising the erecting structure 1 to a level above the last-added tower section 14. For this purpose, an auxiliary cable 28 is trained over two auxiliary pulleys 26 and 27 respectively carried by the lower members 23 and 24 of the guide unit 25, the end 28 of the cable 28 being attached to the crane hook, the opposite end 28" being anchored to a bracket structure 30. This auxiliary bracket structure 30 is mounted on the last-added tower section 14 and preferably includes the cable guide pulleys 31, 32 and 33, it being understood that the bracket structure is removed whenever a new tower section has been added to make room for the next section to be added. Now, when the crane cable 34, which is winched in by the crane winch via the cable drum 34", exerts a pull in the direction of the arrow heads in FIG. 3, the guide unit 25 is raised along the top-most tower section 14 until the upper edges 23' and 24' of said unit reach the level of the upper end face of the section 14, it being understood that the entire erecting structure 1 which is connected to the guide unit 25 moves together with the latter; finally, the erecting structure is rigidly connected to the topmost tower section 14, whereupon the aforedescribed cycle of operations may be repeated, tower sections thus being added one by one until the desired height of the tower is reached.

FIG. 4 illustrates a tower crane according to the invention which comprises three tower sections 35 to 38 which are supported from the floors 42 to 44 of a building by way of transverse members 39 to 41. In this case the topmost tower section 38 supports the guide unit 45 which again forms a component part of the erecting structure 46 supporting the rotary platform 47 which in turn carries the auxiliary column 48, the boom 50 being pivotally mounted on the auxiliary column by means of a pivot shaft 49. The two hydraulic rams 51, 52 permit the boom 50 to be swung round about the pivot shaft 49 to bring it into any desired position, one of these positions being indicated at 53.

Where it is not intended to add any further tower sections within a given story of a building or beyond a given story in the manner shown in FIG. 4 and described in connection with FIGS. 1 and 2, it being intended rather to raise tower body formed by the tower sections 35 to 38 in the manner shown, for example, in FIG. 5, through the height of one story, for example approximately up to the level of the intermediate floor 44, this can be effected by the exclusive use of the main lifting cable of the crane. For this purpose there is provided an array of pulleys 55 which makes is possible, with the aid of an auxiliary cable 57 anchored to and guided by the auxiliary bracket structure 56, to raise the entire crane tower together with the erecting structure 58, it being understood that the supporting cables 59 are connected in a step-by-step manner to the supporting lugs 60. The said supporting lugs are rigidly connected to the transverse members provided in the building, for example to the member 41 shown in FIG. 4. Again the main cable 61 driven by the cable drum 62 is used in this procedure.

FIG. 6 shows the crane of FIG. I mounted on a wheeled undercarriage 64 adapted to run on rails. The aforedescribed erecting structure is supported by the frame of the undercarriage, the erecting structure again including a guide unit 65, a supporting ring 66, a rotary platform 67, a winch- 68, a pump 69 supplying the two hydraulic rams 70, 71, and the crane rotating mechanism 72. A tower section 73 to be mounted on top of the base unit or on any tower section already in position can be raised and moved into the position 73 by raising the boom 74 which is pivotally mounted on the auxiliary column 76 by means of a pivot shaft 75, the auxiliary column being carried by the rotary platform 67. The tower section 73 is moved into position by means of the crane cable 78 which is guided in a suitable manner by an auxiliary pulley 79 carried by the boom 74. The crane, which can be given any desired height in the manner described earlier in connection with FIGS. 1 to 3, is supported by the said undercarriage which is in turn carried by two pairs of wheels 80, 81 adapted to run along the track rails 82.

FIG. 7 again shows the rotary tower crane of FIG. 6 now comprising a tower composed of the tower sections 83 to 86, the crane again being supported by the undercarriage 64 having two pairs of wheels and 81 cooperating with the track rails '82. The erecting structure 87 which in this case also includes the crane operators cabin 88 and the crane controls can be raised up to the level of the upper end of the topmost tower section 86, this being done by means of auxiliary pulleys 89 and 90 and supporting pulleys 91 and 92 over which is trained a cable connected to the main cable 93 of the crane which can be pulled up by the crane winch 94. Again this is done in the manner indicated by means of the boom 97 which is pivotally connected to the auxiliary column 96 by means of a pivot 95. After the erecting structure has been locked in its raised position on the uppermost tower section, the crane is ready for use.

The crane of FIGS. 6 and 7 may be collapsed for road transport in the manner shown in FIG. 8. For this purpose, the undercarriage 98 is mounted on an axle provided with two wheels 99, the wheels being preferably fitted with pneumatic tyres. This operation can be performed without it being necessary to remove the two pairs of track wheels 100 and 101 from the undercarriage. Before the erecting structure 102 is lowered Onto the undercarriage, it is of course necessary to remove all of the tower sections previously mounted in the base section. By tilting the auxiliary column 103 about the axis 104 and by also tilting the boom 105 and the two associated hydraulic rams 106 into the respective positions shown in FIG. 8, the basic crane structure can be brought into such a road transport position that the head end of the boom, i.e. the portion 107, is supported by the load platform 108 of a truck 109, it being possible, if desired, to provide for the portion 107 to be mounted for pivotal motion about a vertical axis. Thus, the crane forms a trailer which may be drawn by the truck for transit to any desired point. During road transport of the crane it is possible to use the platform rotating mechanism 111 for manual steering of the twowheel undercarriage 98, 99 so that the truck and trailer combination can negotiate even curves of very small radius.

What is claimed is:

l. A rotary tower crane comprising a tower and an erecting structure, said tower being formed of a plurality of tower sections removably connected together whereby the height of said tower may be varied, said erecting structure including a guide unit slidably telescoped over said tower and being vertically movable thereon, said guide unit having a height no greater than the height of one of said tower sections whereby said guide unit may be supported solely on the uppermost one of said tower sections at the extreme top of said tower, a rotary platform supported at the upper end of said guide unit for rotation about the axis of said tower, said rotary platform having an opening through which said tower may pass, said rotary platform having a portion oifset to one side of said guide unit, an auxiliary column secured to said rotary platform offset portion and projecting upwardly therefrom, a boom having a horizontal pivot connection at one end to an intermediate part of said auxiliary column and extending over said tower, and means connected to said boom to pivot said boom about said horizontal pivot.

2. The rotary tower crane of claim 1, characterized in that the said erecting structure is supported by an undercarriage, and that both the said auxiliary column and the boom are adapted to be tilted in relation to the said rotary platform into a substantially horizontal position.

3. The rotary tower crane of claim 2, characterized by an undercarriage, said undercarriage having at least one axle with two wheels.

4. The rotary tower crane of claim 3, characterized in that pairs of track wheels are provided one each on the ends of the frame of said undercarriage.

5. The rotary tower crane of claim 1 wherein said boom pivoting means includes a pair of telescoping hydraulic rams disposed on opposite sides of said boom and connected to said boom and said rotary platform.

6. The rotary tower crane of claim 5 wherein said rams are connected to said rotary platform at points disposed along a line passing through said tower center.

7. The rotary tower crane of claim 5 wherein a crane rotating mechanism is connected between said rotary platform and said guide unit, and a hydraulic pump is connected to said rams and said crane rotating mechanism for operating the same, said hydraulic pump being carried by said rotary platform.

8. The rotary tower crane of claim 1, characterized :by the provision of one auxiliary cable pulley on either of two opposite edges of the said guide unit, an auxiliary cable used in erecting the crane tower being trained over the said cable pulleys, the free end of the said auxiliary cable being attached to an auxiliary bracket structure which is adapted to be positioned on the respective upper-most section of the crane tower, the said auxiliary bracket structure being preferably provided with two cable guide pulleys.

9. The rotary tower crane of claim 8, characterized by additional cable pulleys adapted to cooperate with cable guide means attached to the said guide unit and thus to raise the crane tower together with the said erecting structure and associated component par-ts above the base section of the tower, the crane tower moving within a guide frame when so raised.

10. The rotary tower crane of claim 1, characterized in that the said erecting structure also supports the cabin for the crane operator and the crane controls.

11. The rotary tower crane of claim 1 wherein a winch is mounted beneath said rotary platform, a cable on said winch extending up said auxiliary column and connected to said boom, and cable guide means at the upper end of said auxiliary column and guiding said cable.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 514,858 Belgium Nov. 14, 1952 1,050,938 France Sept. 9, 1953 1,167,115 France July 7, 1958 

